Patrick Doyle - Shakespearean classicist:

Born in Glasgow, Patrick Doyle has provided music for a significant number of British made films though by no means exclusively from these islands. Much of his music has been for director Kenneth Branagh, and this association has shaped the style of music we typically hear from Doyle. The relationship started with "Henry V" back in 1989 and has gone on to create a string of movies many being Shakespearean or literary classics including "Much Ado about Nothing", "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein", "Hamlet", "Love's Labour's Lost" and "Dead Again". The TV movie "Look Back in Anger" also boasted music by Doyle and starred Branagh, though this time directed by Judi Dench. Also among his non-Branagh work, we have classics like the Jane Austin "Sense and Sensibility" or the Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations", animation work like "Quest for Camelot" and more gritty stuff such as "Needful Things", "Dead Again" and the thriller "Carlito's Way".

Doyle fell ill with Leukemia shortly after his work on "Great Expectations", but the workaholic in him meant that he was still writing music in his hospital bed. One of the more recent films to bear the name Patrick Doyle is "Bridget Jones' Diary". Although the soundtrack to this features mostly chart songs, there are some examples of Doyle's music in between. On "Gosford Park" though, Doyle was able to include a couple of his own songs among a number of Ivor Novello originals interwoven with the soundtrack. With the release of "Calendar Girls" and "Secondhand Lions" Doyle is proving himself to be one of the foremost British soundtrack composers, on films stretching from comedy through to drama. With Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Doyle has now taken over from John Williams on the popular series about young wizards, referring only briefly to Williams' original theme.

Films by Patrick Doyle:

• Henry V
• Dead Again - almost Herrmannesque in places
• Look Back in Anger - TV movie/drama
• Much Ado about Nothing
• Carlito's Way
• Needful Things
• Hamlet
• A Little Princess
• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - the Kenneth Branagh version
• Sense and Sensibility - although more modern when depicting emotional turnmoil, this soundtrack is largely pleasant with Mozartian touches, including two pseudo-period songs by Doyle
• Mrs. Winterbourne
• Great Expectations (1998) - the modernisation of the classic Dickens tale
• Quest for Camelot - an animated story
• Bridget Jones' Diary - between the songs there are some instrumental cues by Patrick Doyle
• Gosford Park - includes two songs by Doyle and many by Ivor Novello
• Calendar Girls - this film also has some song tracks, and Doyle's music moves from tragedy to comedy with many uplifting moments along the way
• Secondhand Lions - lots of musical variety, including a homage to Korngold
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - the eagerly-awaited 4th installment in the saga
• Nanny McPhee - a fun score, with both magic and menace
• Eragon - more family magic this time in a dragon tale

Patrick Doyle, recommended links:

There is Sheet Music available for Doyle's "Sense and Sensibility" which you can find online for piano, vocal and guitar chords at Sheet Music Plus. Although we can't find it online, there is also a book of piano arrangements by Jack Long of two Jane Austin films: "Sense and Sensibility" by Patrick Doyle and "Pride and Prejudice" by Carl Davis. A similarly themed book which is available online is called "Jane Austin's World" from Sheet Music Plus with "Sense and Sensibility", "Pride and Prejudice", "Emma" and "Persuasion".